Sword Art Online:Alone in the Radiant Night
by GureNeko
Summary: Alternate Universe (AU) - Harumi Otami has to play on with the Game of Death to get back what she had lost, even if it meant destroying everything that made her human. Her morals, her sanity, her own humanity. With her unfriendly nature and trauma against males, how can she survive the Swordland where she has no one to depend on but herself.
1. Chapter 1:Loss

**Hello hello! This is GureNeko speaking.  
**

 **Soooo, its been a pretty tough 3 months since I wrote something, school was taking its toll on me. The holidays finally arrived and I decided that yeah, its time to pick up the pen (keyboard) and start writing stuff again. I have another fanfiction, Rebirth of the Absolute Sword but after spending three days scratching heads and deleting some initial drafts, nothing solid came out but instead came this idea**

 **Its Sword Art Online : Alone in the Radiant Night**

 **I'm working with OCs for the first time so please be kind if you want to judge them!**

 **Read and enjoy! GureNeko, signing out! (Wooshes away)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 : Loss**

 **November 6th 12:00**

"Mrs Otami, I'm sorry to have to call you down from work again but there's been another incident."

Sighing, she glances to her side where her thirteen year old daughter was seated beside her. Wearing a nonchalant expression, Harumi Otami continues staring forward, seemingly listening to her homeroom teacher seated across her but having seen such an act for countless times over the years, her mother knew that her attention was directed elsewhere.

"Are there injuries this time?"

Shaking his head, the homeroom teacher looks down to the papers before him as he read out the contents of the medical reports.

"Bruises and minor concussions. Though the worst of it is a broken arm."

"Dear gods Harumi."

Both her mother and her teacher glare at her accusingly and in front of their eyes, she knew it was not advisable to continue playing her act of listening. Harumi simply shrugs and looks to the side as she says monotonously.

"They came near me."

Its the exact same reply she gave for every other problematic incident that she caused occasionally. Her mother seems unperturbed by this but her teacher wasn't the same. He lashes out angrily at Harumi, pointing his finger at her.

"Young lady, this is already the eightieth time this year! You may be a princess at home but think of your parent's reputation! They may be sponsoring the school but other parents have been complaining about you."

Same old rant, Harumi thinks quietly in her head before the teacher's voice fades away in her mind as she blocks out all unnecessary noise. Knowing that words can no longer reach her stubborn and rude daughter, Mrs Otami waves a hand at the teacher, beckoning him to stop.

"I'll deal with this Mr Narukami, she isn't listening anymore."

Muttering abit more, her teacher finally calms down as he starts to sieve through his papers before picking one out.

"Mrs Otami. Your daughter needs to learn proper etiquette soon. The principal and school council are ready to have her expelled and I'm the only one standing in between that."

"You have my thanks Mr Narukami. Please accept my sincerest apologies for you and your students for the mess that Harumi has made."

Bowing her head down, Mrs Otami hisses to her daughter beside her who takes the cue, snapping out of her dreamworld and doing the customary bow to signify that she has understood and repented. Or at least make it look like she did.

* * *

 **November 6th 12:50**

Outside the mansion, in the garden of her home, Harumi rested under her favorite tree, a large fir tree which her younger sister had requested from her parents to use as a giant Christmas tree during winter. She rubs the reddish, numbing skin on her cheeks, a mark left by a scolding and lecture by her mother on her behavior. While she has been through the exact same sequence many times already, a slap to your face by your own mother still hurts.

"Haru-nee! What did you do this time?"

A light, high-pitched voice called out from the entrance to the garden as Harumi's younger sister, aged eleven, Kaguya runs over, her short black hair blowing lightly in the wind as she approaches Harumi. Harumi breaks out the smallest of smiles at the sight of Kaguya but her face returns to its expressionless demur as Kaguya closed in.

"Same as usual. Beat up some troublemakers."

Kaguya pouts which Harumi found to be pretty cute but it was until Kaguya flicks her finger at Harumi's forehead that she returned to reality.

"Haru-nee, Kaguya is going to get mad if you don't tell me."

Returning to another usual habit of turning away and unable to meet her younger sister's eyes, Harumi revealed her story.

"Some senior confessed to me. I flat out rejected him and his friends got violent. There was a broom in the classroom which was convenient."

Harumi didn't have to continue as Kaguya goes to punch her older sister on the shoulder lightly before sitting next to her.

"When you asked me to convince Mama for kendo lessons, you told me it was for self-defense, not for beating up lovestruck boys."

She sighs and reaches out with her hands to caress the slap mark on Harumi's face.

"Mama's going to one day be real angry you know. Papa might send you away to one of those disciplinary schools and you'll cause trouble for both of them."

It annoyed her that Kaguya was speaking like every other adult had spoken to her. She pushes Kaguya's hand away before instantly regretting the decision, not wanting to endanger her close relationship with her dear younger sister. Harumi apologises to Kaguya in a tired tone.

"Sorry. I'm just stressed out at the moment."

Kaguya did not seem to mind but what Harumi said had got her thinking for abit. Finally getting an idea of what to do, Kaguya stands up, pulling on her sister's hand to follow her.

"Haru-nee, follow me! I have a solution to your stress."

* * *

 **November 6th 12:58**

Brought all the way to her younger sister's room, Harumi was curious about what Kaguya's idea was to relieve her 'stress'. The room was no different from what she had been seeing for a long time. A classical setting of the huge royal pink bed, posters of her favorite singers and TV shows on the walls, a full make-up set, a giant wardrobe, nothing seemed out of place until Kaguya pulled Harumi over to the bed. There were two strange metal helmets waiting on the bedside shelf that had not been there before.

"Recognise those Haru-nee? I had Isao set it up for us today in the morning!"

"Who?"

"Ah, Haru-nee, you should remember the names of those taking care of us. Isao's by the door."

Oh, Isao was one of the household servants whom served under the Otami family. Kaguya has this strange and tedious habit of remembering the names of all who served under them which Harumi found to be a bother. They're just servants, names were unnecessary in such a master servant relationship.

"Okay, he set it up but what are these?"

Harumi goes to pick of one of the helmets and finds out that there are several wires connected to it at the end. Following the trail of wires, she eventually finds it connected to computers set up near the bed.

"Haven't you read the news Haru-nee? Its the NerveGear! It lets us play games in Virtual Reality."

The name, NerveGear, sparked a memory in Harumi's uncaring brain. She would have to be a dunce or retard to not notice the huge signboards plastered around the city as her butler drove her in between her school and the mansion. It is said to be the greatest innovation in the computer industry at the moment and a major breakthrough for the gaming industry.

"I also have the new game that came out for Virtual Reality and it seems cool. Sword Art Online!"

Kaguya passes over a box to Harumi who looks at the artwork on it. Pictures of swords of several colors and size cover the front which made it seem very appealing.

"Let's play then! The game can be played after 1 o'clock."

Looking at the exquisite grandfather clock in the other side of the room, it was now 13:00, the time where the servers of Sword Art Online officially launched.

* * *

 **November 6th Aincrad Standard Time 13:10, 1st Floor, Town of Beginning's Plaza  
**

It has been ten minutes since she appeared at the Town of Beginning's Plaza. Even though she had not wanted to play the game and only followed in on Kaguya's request, she had to admit, it was impressive of the amount of work put into Sword Art Online. High rise buildings made of smooth shining marble surrounded her when she first entered and looking to the skys, she could see the endless heavenly blue with few clouds, hard to see back at home in winter time. Finally after a few more minutes, someone unfamiliar approaches he.

"Haru-nee, you're so bad. Couldn't you be abit more serious in creating your character?"

'Kaguya' was no longer the person Harumi once knew. This new person stood slightly taller than Harumi whereas 'Kaguya' was slightly shorter than Harumi back in real life. Her hair was also long and of a dark bluish color. Even her face looked completely different in all aspects. A name was displayed next to Kaguya's character and it read as [Night]. Perhaps this was the power of character creation in virtual reality, Harumi thought. Her own character creation involved her switching her uncombed long hair to a short, cropped hairstyle resembling Kaguya back in the real world and her scarlet red eyes to a light grayish color. Her name was simply what she was in real life, [Harumi].

"Well then, let's go destress Haru-nee!"

* * *

 **November 6th Aincrad Standard Time 14:00, 1st Floor, Fields**

By destressing, Harumi found out that it involved some physical work which was her type of thing. Holding a weapon which she found in her inventory in her hand [Bronze Sword] she and Kaguya made their way through the beautiful grassy landscape that was the 1st Floor of the Castle of Aincrad. Blocking their way were some wild Level 1 [Wild Boar]s but they proved to be of little danger to Harumi who with her training in kendo in real life, easily adapted to fighting in the virtual world. Kaguya on the other hand was a terrible fighter, losing half her health points to one of the Wild Boars before finally landing successful hits on it with her [Bronze Dagger].

"So, Haru-nee, how do you feel?"

Admittedly, beating up a couple of data monsters with virtual weapons felt fun, especially since your whole body was moving along instead of a typical keyboard and mouse play.

"Better. Thanks Kaguya."

"Hee hee, you owe me one then Haru-nee!"

Kaguya's light-hearted giggle was cut short as shadows fell upon them. Turning around, they saw two handsome talls males looking down on them, smiles plastered on their faces.

"Yo ladies! Sounds like you are having fun, mind if we join along?"

Kaguya who was a social butterfly, would have agreed to let them tag along and become friends but knowing her sister's trauma around males, she looks to Harumi first who sees the pleading expression on her younger sister's face. She shrugs, giving in. It was just a game so she could endure it.

"Sure, we won't mind but please don't go touchy touchy with my friend. She's scared of guys."

They laugh and join the sisters' party. They introduced themselves as Zero and Murasama, both of which were clearly not their real names but their in-game ones.

* * *

 **November 6th Aincrad Standard Time 17:30, 1st Floor**

The four spent the next few hours proceeding to hunt the rest of the fields of the 1st Floor. The two guys, Zero and Murasama proved to also be rather terrible at the game, often messing up their attacks with flamboyant movement and constant panic whenever they took damage. They weren't at least on Kaguya's level who slowly seemed like a burden to the party, their progress being very slow as they had to wait for Kaguya to finish her battles. Eventually, the fields were flooded with other players as they entered the game, having returned home from their various duties back in the real world to dive into the virtual one.

"Wowww, Night-chan, you're really bad at this ..."

"Yeah, why did Haru-chan even join up with you in the first place ..."

They mentioned jokingly to Kaguya as she continued to fight against a Wild Boar but at Kaguya's current skill level, she seemed to do more damage to herself than the Wild Boar did to her. Ticked off by the snide comments from the guys, Harumi steps in, Bronze Sword drawn and as the boar charges to her, she sidesteps its charge and slashes at the passing bulk of virtual flesh. It exploded into emerald colored polygons, the symbol of death in Sword Art Online.

"S-Sorry everyone. I'll get better at this game ... eventually hee hee."

She scratches her head as she says so. Both guys laugh along though they don't seem as enthusiastic as when they first joined.

"Oh its about 5:30 PM now, I've got dinner to go back to."

"Same here, we'll be leaving then."

They both swiped their left hands against the air, bringing down the unique system menu that allowed them access to their character statuses, equipment, inventory and more importantly for now, their exit buttons.

"Haru-nee, we should leave too. Mama will want us to wash up before dinner."

Kaguya does the same hand action and swipes down her menu. Harumi follows suit and navigating to the system settings, she scrolls to the bottom to press the exit button. At least, if there was even one. Before she could even ask, she was engulfed in a bright blue light.

There she learnt, she had become an unwilling participant of the death game that had trapped 10,000 people, Sword Art Online.

* * *

 **November 6th Aincrad Standard Time 18:23, 1st Floor, Fields  
**

What went wrong ... Harumi wondered.

It started off with them leaving the plaza where the 10,000 players were teleported to and informed that they were now a part in a game of life and death. Without the mess that was the panicking crowd that was the plaza, Harumi had a clear look at the two guys or right now, boys that accompanied them. Zero was of average height, slightly taller than Harumi with a ton of freckles on his face. Murasama was shorter with spectacles that had now appear on his face. Harumi and Kaguya had returned to what they looked like in the real world.

"Harumi, listen to us. I say we should just ditch Night and go on by ourselves."

The spectacled one, Murasama whispered to Harumi as Kaguya was distracted by the boy's friend who was engaging in useless conversation with Kaguya. Harumi snorted before moving past the boy. Figures she thought, she had expected this to come after seeing their reactions to Kaguya's abysmal fight skills. She would have to progress alone with Kaguya without the two boys. She had to finish the game and bring his sister back to the safety of the real world. She had to keep Kaguya alive.

"Oi listen to me you."

He goes forward to grab Harumi's shoulder and her brain goes haywire. She could feel herself hyper-ventilating and an irrational fear covering her heart as she shoves Murasama away from her.

"Alright then, we can do it this way."

Murasama draws his longsword and points it towards Harumi. Behind her, she hears the sound of a blade drawn as Zero also points a blade at Kaguya.

"Empty your inventory now and we ... w-we don't have to kill you!"

He slips his tongue as he spills out the harsh reality. Death her now means death for real and being skewered by the virtual metal was a one way trip to hell. Complying, Kaguya opens her inventory to drop her items but Harumi was still standing there, breathing heavily, blood going into her brain as her trauma was still acting up.

"Didn't you hear what I said?! Do it!"

Murasama steps in a little closer which provokes the deranged Harumi to draw her own sword and slash at him in response. He hurriedly leaps back, breathing from his own panic attack at nearly getting hit.

"T-That's it! You asked for it!"

He seems reluctant to act on his words first but seeing how Harumi was seemingly unfazed, pointing her own sword at him, he charges, sword raised. Harumi's combat senses, trained from years of kendo begins to work for her. From their hunting adventure earlier in the day, she knew that Murasama had the tendency to add excessive and unnecessary movement to his swings, making him open for alot of counterattacks. He swung twice with both going wide as Harumi confidently steps back before slashing back before his third strike. He drops his weapon in a gasp of pain and he falls to the ground, clutching at the huge red gash across his chest.

"O-Oh my god, it hurts! It HURTS!"

He moans and then raises his volume, which results in Zero panicking, going to grab Kaguya and positioning his sword so that the blade was at her throat.

"S-Stay away from him!"

Harumi was willing to comply, seeing that her younger sister's life was in danger but then suddenly, Murasama stands up hastily, revenge fixated on his eyes as he goes to throw a punch at Harumi, whose battle instincts and panic attack acts up again, resulting her in kicking Murasama away.

A wet bloody sound of virtual metal cutting flesh can be heard. But Harumi's sword was still in her hand and Murasama's was on the ground.

A body falls to the ground at the back, landing with a horrifyingly loud thumping sound. A painful silence elapses as everyone is too stunned to figure out what has happened.

"I-I didn't mean to ... I .. I panicked! I ..."

But his words were spoken to air as Harumi rushes over to Kaguya, who has a bright red gash on her throat Her health was decreasing and decreasing. Falling from the mid point of yellow, to the dangerous 10% of red and then, it was empty, there was no color left in the bar. In Harumi's hands Kaguya's body seems to glow in a bright sapphire blue hue.

"D-Don't cry, Haru-nee ..."

A rain of blue-green polygons rain on Harumi who crouched there with no reaction. Zero and Murasama were frozen on the spot, unable to make a move.

"W-We didn't mean ... GAHH!"

Impaled deeply into his stomach was Harumi's sword and behind it was her hand. Her head was down so Murasama was unable to see anything aside from her piano black hair but there was something menacing he couldn't see but he knew it was there. It was a killing aura.

"S-Stop, i-it hurts ... I'll die you know AHH!"

The sword in his stomach twists and turns before cutting up the rest of his upper body, the blade exiting from where his blade once was as the disfigured body plays its death animation of snow-like polygons. Zero had already fallen onto the ground, his legs giving up on him due to fear and he tries to crawl back from the red-eyed figure, dragging her sword along the ground towards him.

"P-Ple-ease n-noooo. I didn't mean it. I didn't ... GYAAA!"

There was no one else to hear his screams. They were all lost in the silent fields of the 1st Floor where there once stood four people. And now there was only one, standing in the lonely sunset of the virtual sky, taunting her with its beauty after all that had happened.

* * *

 **Its a rap! That's the first chapter of Alone in the Radiant Night!**

 **Its now time for some customary author's notes!**

 **For those that are wondering, Haru-nee is Kaguya calling Harumi as the big sister!**

 **Harumi is 13 while Kaguya is 11!**

 **Anything else err ... **shrugs violently****

 **Rate, review and if you have questions, fire away!**

 **Pst, it ain't a Yuri story btw!**


	2. Chapter 2:Reason

**Well ermm ... the lack of reception is abit scary but since there's none, CONTINUATION!**

 **(BOOM BOOM BOOM) Welcome to Sword Art Online:Alone in the Radiant Night !**

 **Onto chapter 2, where more stuff gets explained out and where the theme of the story finally appears. Last chapter was mainly used to introduce the protagonist behind all this and so this chapter is one to explain her goals!**

 **Hope you enjoy, get a drink and some music (Pick something dark and spooky ;3 Spoopy) and read on!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 : Reason**

 **November 7th 2022, Monday. Aincrad Standard Time 02:41, 1st Floor**

*Crack*

The weapon in her hand, [Bronze Sword] shattered in her hand, breaking off into the emerald colored polygons of non-existence and leaving Harumi without anything to defend herself from the Wild Boar that glared down at her with its beastly slitted eyes. Seeing that the human who had taken down many of its kind now defenseless, it took the opportunity to attack, pointing its sharp white tusks at Harumi and charged, squealing its angry battle cry.

'Three hundred and sixty-eight.'

Harumi whispered in her head as she jumps to the side at the last second and the boar charges past her. As it tried to slow down its own momentum, a shadow covered it as Harumi pounced with a dagger fresh from her inventory. Stabbing viciously into the beast, she did not stop till it ceased making any noise and disappeared, leaving her alone in the moon-lit fields. Prone on the ground, she leans on her dagger for support but with its short length, putting her weight on it resulted in her falling. The waves of dizziness combined now with the awfully comfortable grass threatened to make her give up and take a break. With what remained of her depleting strength, she shakily raised her right hand that held the dagger and plunged it straight down into her motionless left hand. Instantly, the nausea was gone, replaced overwhelming by intense pain and she hurridely pulls her dagger put and cradles her damaged left hand, now bearing a blood red gash and leaking out particles of the same color which floated up to the night sky abit before vanishing.

"13,680 Col ..."

In her inventory, below her three broken Bronze Swords was the amount of currency she had in this world. She echoed the amount it displayed with an empty voice and did some math in her head.

'Another 3600 or so ...'

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and then considered her options carefully. The last seven hours she had spent hunting the Wild Boars only earned her around 4000 Col or so with each enemy slain providing only 10. The first 3 hours had been easy with the monsters being abundant except for one near death incident where her own Bronze Sword had broken from use and it took her awhile to figure out how to equip Zero's sword whilst dodging an angry Wild Boar. The last 4 hours leading up till now had been difficult. There were fewer enemies for Harumi to find thus slowing down her rampage and now, it took her almost fifteen minutes to even find one to kill and not only that, she had suddenly gone dizzy on several occasions, her view of the virtual world around her disorientating and her limbs giving way and going limp. It was her getting fatigued and she refused to rest, solving this problem with her body by self-inflicting pain but after repeating this several times, her mind had gotten used to it and now when she injures herself, she could only wince whereas the first time, she had rolled around the lonely, silent fields, screaming her heart out to nullify the pain, to forget about it. Perhaps, she finally thought, it was time to leave and prepare for another day. With her weak arms to push herself off the ground, her aching legs carried her on, down the path to the Town of Beginnings.

* * *

 **A little later ...**

The huge gate that protected the path into the bright city that is the Town of Beginnings beckoned for Harumi to enter but as she barely passed the gates, she hears a strange cracking sound behind her and then the sound of loud, very heavy footsteps. Briefly turning around she caught sight of what was approaching her as it stepped into the shining lights of the city and her weakened legs found the energy to run away from whatever it was. There were stone statues resembling knights that stood outside the gates of the Town of Beginnings, welcoming all those who were entering the town. But now, their pedestals were empty as they moved their stone bodies, chasing after Harumi with their stone lances pointed forward at her. Switching direction from a straight run, Harumi runs off into a side alley and deviates her path further, taking random twists and turns till finally, she found herself in a seemingly dark corner with no more heavy footsteps chasing after her. Exhausted from all that has happened to her, she puts her back against the wall, sliding down till she sat there, unwilling to move any longer and look up to the night sky. Fumbling with her right hand, she removes the pendant she had acquired 7 hours ago and holds it up with her forefinger and thumb against the night. Attached to a metallic chain was a golden star, looking just like the others which she could see twinkling in the sky now.

"Kaguya ..."

She muttered before the tears she had been holding ever since the ordeal finally left her eyes in a shower. The pendant shook around in her hand as she cried and the star accidentally hits her little pinkie and a little blue description bar pops out from the item.

[Kaguya's Heart. Breaks at the start of the week (Sunday) unless filled with [50,000] Col.]

This was the only reason she still even fought. Given hope that she could see her sister, the promise that Kaguya might return to Harumi ensured she would fight on, even if the world had seemingly turned on her.

In fact, this world, Sword Art Online had turned on her.

*Clack, Clack, Clack*

The sound of heavy footsteps returned and they were headed right for. Gritting her teeth and ignoring her fatigue, she pushes herself off the ground and goes deeper into the alleyways. She could however, never stop hearing the terrible ominous sound of stone feet against the stone ground as they followed her through the long maze in the town. It was as if they had a tracker on her, Harumi suspected and it was only till later that she found out, those stone guards were indeed programmed to be locked onto her, never allowing her to hide, always chasing till she was finally gone. Finally exiting the long alleyways, Harumi figured the town wouldn't be safe with the animated statues that seemed to only go for her and so she left. Outside the gates of the Town of Beginnings, the stone statues returned to holding their lances on their shoulders, stepping up to their pedestals and freezing there, becoming the sentinels of the gates once again. There was no place for Harumi here and so she had to move on.

* * *

 **November 7th 2022, Monday. Aincrad Standard Time 03:02, 1st Floor**

Shuffling down the path which led her through the fields she know all too well, she reached a part of this world she had not explored yet. A forest, dark in the late night with signs of life living inside it through the flickering lights of the wooden homes that she could see. Praying to whichever heavenly deity that she hoped had not turned on her yet, she hobbles into the forest with her numb legs, deranged senses trying to detect any stone guardians that would try to chase her out but there didn't seem to be any. Moving forward without any clear direction, Harumi soon finds herself in front of a house and she opens the door, allowing herself in, hoping that whoever inside could allow her to rest the night.

"Oh? Who's there?"

A woman's voice calls out from one of the rooms in the house and she soon steps out to see the stranger who came in. She was dressed in one of those old clothing for woman, a sleeveless brown tunic accompanied by a dirty white and plain dress. But she soon disappears back into the room she came from hurriedly and returns but this time, she held a silvery sword in her hands. Between both instances, her face changed from one of curiosity to one of suspicion and anger.

"Back away you criminal! Get out of my home!"

The woman calls out to Harumi, waving the sword which she held in both hands. This woman was a person of the game Harumi thought, a non-player character or, NPC but her actions seemed more human than she imagined. Harumi raises both her hands, backing off to the door and outside but her back meets a solid wooden door which had closed itself. Reaching behind with her hands, she goes to twist and turn the doorknob which was somehow jammed and refused to move. She was trapped with a furious NPC woman.

"You leave me no choice!"

Harumi ducks the wild slash, seeing the silver blade impede itself into the door. Not waiting for the woman to remove it, Harumi quickly crawls out and goes for the nearest window but it was closed and somehow locked. She rushes to the next one which to no surprise, was also blocking her exit. The other doors leading off to the other rooms were also out of bounds. She was indeed, locked into an invisible cage. The NPC woman finally dislodges her silver sword from the door and once again, goes on the offensive. The NPC was not programmed to be a fighter, Harumi noted for the swings were slow and easy to dodge but in Harumi's state of exhaustion, a fatal mistake could happen anything. And it came quickly as when she crouched to go under another slash, the dizziness hit again and she falls to the wooden flooring, unable to recover quickly enough as the NPC holds the sword up for the final blow.

* * *

 **Some time ago,**

 **November 6th, Sunday. Aincrad Standard Time 18:30, 1st Floor, Fields**

The sword fell out her hands and out of the ground as the screams of Zero finally stopped. She had done it, she had avenged Kaguya but that wasn't the main point. Kaguya was gone. The red hooded giant had said it. "Dying in Sword Art Online is dying in the real world." She had lost the one thing she wanted to protect. The tears of grief, anger, frustration, sadness, loss, every negative emotion, it threatened to escape her eyes, the strong older sister, Harumi Otami who promised Kaguya countless times that she the older sister would protect Kaguya no matter what.

"Oi! Kayaba whatever your name is! I know you can hear me!"

She didn't know anymore. She had nothing at all to live for anymore. This was just to alleviate the immense emotional pain that her heart was harboring.

"Give her back to me! Give Kaguya back to me! I'll kill you if you don't!"

Shouting into the air, her words echoed out into the silent fields which gave her no reply. She had realised that even before she started venting out her hopelessness, nothing would happen.

"Please ... I'll do anything ... Give me my Kaguya back ..."

Miraculously, something did happen. A black screen popped up in her view and yellow words appeared, as if typed out by a mysterious operator behind a keyboard.

"Show me how much a human can change to get what it wants. Show me and you'll get what you want."

Along with the mail was a present and both had the same sender, an unfamiliar name.

[Cardinal]

* * *

 **November 7th 2022, Monday. Aincrad Standard Time 03:06, 1st Floor**

[Show me how much a human can change to get what it wants.]

[Show me how much a human can change]

[Show me]

The words repeated themselves like a broken recorder in her head. How she wished that everything that looked like a human in this world would actually be a monster, maybe replace the NPC's head with a wild boars head, replace Zero and Murasamas' heads with another monster's head. That would have made things so much more simpler for her. Instead, this game of death has forcefully made things difficult. Drawing Kaguya's dagger, she lunges up and receives a solid vibration to her arm as she hits the target in front of her. The silver sword drops to the ground behind the NPC as her hands reach for the handle of the dagger, deep in its stomach. Her face was something Kaguya would forever remember. She had seen it on Zero and Muarasama. The image of a dying person, shocked at its own death and then desperately trying to cling on it, the scarring image is forever implanted in Harumi's mind. Stumbling backwards, the NPC crashes into the table of her own house, causing the food and utensils on it to fall and making alot of noise before suddenly it goes all quiet. A final twitch from the body on the ground and it went completely still.

"Mama?"

A tiny voice, muffled by the half-closed door to one of the rooms issued out, follow by a hacking cough. Gritting her teeth, dreading every moment of her current life, Harumi gets onto her feet and enters the room which now allowed her access seeing that she had finished the previous event. Lying on the small bed was a young girl, no more than eight years old and she did not look well. Completely pale with skinny limbs, she was probably very sick. She spoke again and it seemed to use alot of her willpower and strength to do so as her tiny hands gripped the edges of the blankets which she held.

"Mama, have you chased out the bad people?"

[Show me]

With a shivering hand, Harumi reaches for the pop-up which had appeared ever since the mother of the girl fell. Pressing the pop-up with a trembling forefinger, it expanded to display the words.

[You have acquired an "Anneal Blade".]

Harumi taps it twice and the sword appears in her right hand. It was a silvery and shiny, glittering in the weak light of the lamp by the girl's bladeside. It was such a beautiful blade to have fallen into the hands of an ugly monster of a human.

[How much can a human change.]

"M-Mama, are you there? Mama?!"

The girl's voice sounded more desperate now as she calls out for the person that was no longer there. Light reflected off the Anneal blade as its owner slowly and reluctantly raised it, holding it straight up with her twitchy hands. Its just an NPC ... she shouldn't feel bad for it. It was not real. It was not alive.

[To get what it wants.]

"Mama ... I'm scared ..."

A single teardrop, gleaming lightly in the dim lamplight fell through space before exploding into emerald particles.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 is over so ... well ...**

 **Its over ._. what else do I say?**

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review on how good/bad it was and leave any questions if confused!**

 **Don't be worried about literally killing me with criticism!**

 **Be sure to check out my other writings, they'll be updated soon enough!**


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